Unit Method Estimating

Unit Method Estimating

The unit method estimating consists of choosing a standardunit of accomodation and multiplying  an approximate cost per unit

Estimate = Standard units of accommodation X Cost/Unit

for example:

Schools – costs per pupil place

Hospitals  – costs perbed place

Roads – per Kilometers

Car parks – costs per  car space

The technique is based on the fact that there is usuallysome close relationship between the cost of a construction project and the number of functional units itaccomodates.  Functional units are thosefactors which express the intended  use of thebuilding better than any other.  Thismethod is extremely useful on occasions where the  building’s client requires a preliminaryestimate based on little more information than the basic units of  accommodation.

The units adopted to facilitate this analysis depend on the  type of project under consideration.

Site condition

Specification changes

Market conditions

Regional changes

Inflation

Using this estimating method can generate a rough estimatequickly, but the lack of accuracy will render it of little use in the costplanning procedure outlined earlier. However, this method ids often used todetermine the very first notion of a price in early discussions of a projectand as a crude means of comparing the known costs of differet buildings.